Be Still
by oddania
Summary: Kuvira's patience is beginning to thin. Her husband wasn't helping either. "I'm trying to teach her proper table manners and you're encouraging her bad behavior." Because the parenting-life isn't any easier for them. Family prompt. Baavira.


**Mommy Kuvira, people, and her little family over for dinner at the main Beifong headquarters.**

—

"Leena, please, you need to calm down." Kuvira frowns, turning towards her over-energetic daughter beside her at the table.

Leena laughs and plops another piece of meat in her mouth, chewing it enthusiastically as it hangs halfway past her lips. She leans into the table and presses her elbow against the rim of the plate, nearly flipping it over.

But Kuvira is fast enough to catch it and bring it down with her bending, frown deepening. "Leena," she says, her tone stiffening, "you need to stop. Otherwise you won't be allowed to eat at the table with everyone else."

As she reaches over to tear the remaining piece of meat hanging from her daughter's mouth, she sees Baatar and his siblings laugh. Leena responds eagerly, her own giggles adding to theirs.

Kuvira's patience is beginning to thin. Her husband wasn't helping either. "I'm trying to teach her proper table manners and you're encouraging her bad behavior."

She shoots him a glare.

Baatar shrugs. "She's just having fun, Kuvira, don't worry about it."

Opal and the twins' expressions fall, eyes widening as they reach to nervously sip their tea.

She looks away from him, noticing that Leena had already started messing around once more. Kuvira sighs, tugging the fork out of the little girl's hands to place it gently back on the plate. "If you don't calm down, we're going home."

She glances up at her mother, sticking out her lower lip.

"Can you please eat nicely? If you eat nicely, we'll stay."

The pout is still there, although Leena reluctantly turns back to her plate and grasps the fork. She doesn't make an actual effort to eat at first.

Baatar sighs through his nose, leaning back into his chair. He can practically feel Kuvira's annoyance with him but he doesn't see a reason for her to be upset; she was unnecessarily on edge today.

He proceeds to toy with Leena, poking her nose. Except that is where he makes his mistake: she jumps out at him unexpectedly with another laugh, knocking over her glass of water.

Kuvira stands from her seat and places a napkin on the table before the water can spill over. She tosses another at Baatar. "Clean it up. This is your fault." She says before taking her daughter's hand. Leena attempts to resist, a small whine escaping her lips in protest.

"Excuse us." Kuvira inclines her head, noticing the silent, bewildered expressions around the room. "We need to go outside."

—

"I wanna go back." The young girl whines again, pulling against her mother's grip. "Mommyyyyy!"

Kuvira closes the doors behind them before searching her surroundings for a nearby bench. There isn't one too far from here and she begins to head in its direction, ignoring the objections coming from her child.

Leena is persistently tugging at her fingers, one complaint after the other spilling out from the frustration of not having things done her way. She keeps up this appearance even when they both reach their destination.

Kuvira guides her towards the bench and falls onto one knee as she sits her daughter down. "Do you know why I took you outside?" She asks gently, although her voice doesn't lose its authority and seriousness regarding the issue. She would never approach disciplining her child harshly—Leena was too much like her to do so, eager to return every response she receives. If Kuvira wants to provide her daughter with the right direction and expect a positive outcome, she would not only prove that she was in control, but also calm and collected.

"Leena, please look at me." She asks when her daughter's gaze falls everywhere except at her. Leena is reluctant to provide her mother with all she hopes for, only granting the woman a shift of her eyes.

"You weren't behaving very well at the table." Kuvira begins. "Can you tell me why?"

"I was being good!" Leena instantly defends, her scowl growing. "I wasn't doing anything bad!"

"You were eating rudely and knocked your glass over." Kuvira adds. "Daddy and I always tell you to be very gentle and careful. And you're a big girl; you know how to eat nicely at the table."

"But Daddy made me break my cup!"

"I know, and Daddy is also in big trouble. He's going to have to sit in time out when we get home." Kuvira grins, tucking a stray strand of her daughter's dark hair behind her ear.

Leena finally meets her mother fully, a small smile on her lips.

Kuvira notes her success. "But I want you to behave, okay? If you're not going to be good this time, we will leave early and you will have to sit in time out instead of playing with your uncles." She allows the thought to register in her daughter's head. "Now, we can either go back inside and behave nicely at the table, or we can stay out here. What would you rather do?"

"Go back inside."

She smiles, offering Leena a hand. "And you promise to be a good girl?"

"Yes." Leena nods, accepting Kuvira's gesture.

—

Dinner hasn't lasted much longer once they returned, although Kuvira was more than pleased to see her daughter comply with the standards they set. She was rewarded with a small cup of ice cream in the end.


End file.
